Guinness World Records has advised Nigerians and indeed everyone attempting to break any record or ‘record-a-thon’ enthusiasts to first get the record title approval from its team before embarking on it. GWR is a British reference book published annually, listing world records both of human achievements and the extremes of the natural world. The verifying world records on Twitter, said, “Please Enough with the record-a-thons.” GWR further advised “We love the record-a-thon enthusiasm but we would suggest getting a record title approved by our team before attempting these marathon records!” Earlier in July, GWR advised prospective record breakers to properly confirm with the Guinness team before attempting to break any world record. Guinness World Records made this known on its Twitter handle. “Polite reminder that you should probably have your world record title confirmed by our team before attempting it,” GWR tweeted. Recently, Chef Dammy Adeparusi hit her target of 120 hours of cooking amid jubilation from folks and criticisms from others in June at Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti State. Her attempt followed that of another Nigerian chef Hilda Baci, who had just broken the world record for the longest cooking marathon by an individual. Hilda Baci’s record of 93 hours, 11 minutes still stands. Recall Nigerian masseuse, Joyce Ijeoma, who was attempting to set a Guinness World Record for the longest massage on different individuals, reportedly collapsed. The 72-hour massage-a-thon attempt was ongoing in the Ikate, Lekki area of Lagos State, Nigeria, when Ijeoma collapsed. Ijeoma had reportedly done over 36 hours of massage when she collapsed. The Guinness World Record for the longest full-body massage is about 25 hours, 4 minutes. Vanguard reported that Ekiti State Government had warned residents to desist from promoting kiss-a-thon, a planned kissing marathon targeted at setting a Guinness World Record. This warning was given by the state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Dayo Apata, who revealed that any person found guilty of promoting the kissing event was at risk of being jailed for three years. The commissioner also urged proprietors of recreational facilities in the state to decline the offer to hold such an event, warning that defaulters would face jail terms. The organisers had claimed that the three-day event was planned to break the Guinness World Record for the longest kissing marathon. It was scheduled to hold between July 7 and July 10.

  Hospital doctors in England on Thursday staged the biggest walkout in the history of the UK’s state-funded National Health Service, prompting fears for patient safety. The unprecedented five-day stoppage over pay and staff retention is the latest in eight months of industrial action across the NHS, which is already reeling from a vast pandemic backlog. “The NHS has been running on goodwill and now this is the last chance to change that,” said 27-year-old junior doctor Arjan Sing, on a picket line outside London’s University College Hospital. He said colleagues were planning to leave for countries that “care about their doctors”. “Doctors have realised they work in a global market, they’re not restricted to this country,” he added. Nurses, ambulance staff and other medical workers have all joined picket lines in recent months, adding to pressures on patient appointments. The industrial action by junior doctors — those below consultant level — will run until 7:00 am (0600 GMT) on Tuesday. It comes against a background of walk-outs across the economy from train drivers to lawyers over the past year as the UK battles a crippling cost-of-living crisis. Senior hospital doctors, known as consultants, in England will also begin a 48-hour strike on July 20, with radiographers following suit from July 25. ‘Destructive’ The bitter row between junior doctors and the government has seen them call for their 2008-9 pay levels to be restored — something the government says would mean an average pay award of about 35 percent. The British Medical Association’s Junior Doctors Committee says medics have effectively had a 26-percent pay cut in real terms in the last 15 years, as salaries have failed to keep pace with soaring inflation. The government claims that backdating their pay to reflect inflation since 2008 is too costly and has instead offered an extra five percent, as it battles to reduce inflation. “Today marks the start of the longest single walkout by doctors in the NHS’s history, but this is still not a record that needs to go into the history books,” BMA leaders Robert Laurenson and Vivek Trivedi said. “We can call this strike off today if the UK government will simply follow the example of the government in Scotland and drop their nonsensical precondition of not talking whilst strikes are announced and produce an offer which is credible to the doctors they are speaking with.” Similar stoppages in June and April resulted in massive disruption with hundreds of thousands of hospital appointments and operations rescheduled. “The complete inflexibility we see from the UK government today is baffling, frustrating, and ultimately destructive for everyone who wants waiting lists to go down and NHS staffing numbers to go up,” Laurenson and Trivedi added. About seven million people were waiting for treatment in April — a record — with nearly three million waiting more than 18 months, according to the BMA. AFP

  The Chief of Army Staff, Maj. Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, has ordered troops to seize control of areas where the Indigenous People of Biafra enforce their sit-at-home order throughout the South-East states. The order came after a Finland-based pro-Biafra agitator, Simon Ekpa, announced that there would be a two-week sit-at-home in the South-East region from July 31. According to him, the order was to demand the immediate and unconditional release of the detained IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, as well as facilitate the freedom of Biafra nation, among others. Ekpa warned that failure to comply with the sit-at-home order would attract ‘heavy consequences’. However, speaking in an interview with The PUNCH, the Director, Army Public Relations, Brig. Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, declared that such an announcement was unlawful and would not be condoned. He said the troops of the 82 Division had been given an order to work with other security agencies to ensure citizens go about their businesses freely. Onyema said, “The renewed threat by IPOB to compel the people in southeastern Nigeria to sit at home is not only appalling but a violation of the fundamental rights of southeastern Nigerians and, therefore, unlawful. This will never be condoned. “The Chief of Army Staff has handed down clear directives to the 82 Division of the Nigerian Army operating in synergy with other security agencies to ensure robust patrols to dominate all flashpoints and emplace measures to ensure citizens are free to go about their legitimate businesses. “Strangely, Simon Ekpa, a notorious terrorist and self-acclaimed leader of IPOB, is in Finland making a living for himself and his family, but ordering the people to shut down their means of livelihood by sitting at home.” The army spokesman called on Nigerians in the South-East region to disregard the sit-at-home order, urging them to support the security forces to defeat IPOB. Onyema said, “We implore the good and enterprising people of the South-East to shun all forms of cajoling or threats aimed at unlawfully compelling them to be reclusive by sitting at home. We urge them to join forces with the security operatives to resist this illegality perpetrated by IPOB.” Similarly,the police have vowed to resist the sit-at-home order in any part of the South-East. The Force spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi, told The PUNCH that the police had killed and arrested non-state actors enforcing the order, adding that the force would not rest on its oars. Adejobi disclosed that the police were keeping a watch on the sponsors of the agitators. He said, “The police will not allow any unlawful order to stand in any part of Nigeria. The sit-at-home order is illegal and unacceptable. We have suppressed and neutralised the non-state actors who have been trying to enforce the order. We have arrested many of them and recovered their weapons. “We will not relent in our efforts to maintain law and order in all parts of Nigeria, and we assure the people in the South-East to go about their lawful businesses as we have emplaced adequate security measures to protect them. We are keeping watch on the sponsors of these agitators who cause pain and sorrow in the areas. Meanwhile, the Governor of Enugu State, Peter Mbah, visited the headquarters of the Nigerian Navy in Abuja to seek support for the abolition of sit-at-home in the state. The governor had, on June 2, declared sit-at-home banned in Enugu, saying it was injurious to the economy of the state. Despite his declaration, however, sit-at-home remains a feature of the state on Mondays. Speaking to journalists during his visit to Abuja, Mbah said attracting investors to Enugu State would be an uphill task if sit-at-home persists. The governor said, “If we must deal with the root causes of insecurity we have in our country, we must adopt both the kinetic and non-kinetic approaches to dealing with insecurity, and we felt that the big elephant in the room is to address those activities that may be an inhibitor to bringing in investors to our state. “We identified insecurity as one of those inhibitors; we felt that it was a clog in the wheel of our continued development, and that was why, immediately after I assumed office, I convened a Security Council meeting, and following that, we made a pronouncement that we wanted the sit-at-home to end. This is because we have zero tolerance for that. “There is no way we’ll be able to achieve the exponential picture we have painted, those massive promises about growing our economy and eradicating poverty, it will not happen if we don’t deal with that problem, and of course that requires we tighten our security architecture, and mobilise our security agencies in our state to be able to deal with it.” Mba said he looked up to the partnership with the Navy to help bolster security in Enugu State and uphold the unity of the country. He said, “Thus far, we are getting the required support from the security agencies, and we are hoping to see them join hands with us to be able to deal with this big elephant. “When I was sworn in, I took an oath to defend the unity of this country, and that is exactly what we’ll do, and we are not going to endorse any behavior that is outside that.So, what we are saying, in effect, is that we look forward to partnering with the Navy in those areas that are necessary to do so to achieve one common goal of building one unifying country, peace, and security.”

  A high court of the Federal Capital Territory on Thursday issued a one-week ultimatum to the Department of State Security Service to either charge the detained suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele to Court or release him. Justice Hamza Muazu gave the order while delivering a ruling in a fundamental human rights suit instituted against the DSS and others by Emefiele. Justice Muazu held that the DSS has the power to carry out its constitutional duties of making arrests, detaining, and ensuring the prevention of internal crime. However, he maintained that such duties must be carried out within the ambit of the law. Details later…

  Thursday 13 July 2023 Boards: Obi kicks as Tinubu offers opposition govs slots Sit-at-home: Army chief orders raid on IPOB hideouts Lagos bizman circulating ex-lovers’ nude photos arraigned, gets bail Detention: Court rules on Emefiele’s case today Ladoja sues Makinde over Ibadan Obas Poor Enrolment: Only 2070 Students In Primary School, Governor Kefas Laments Insecurity: Gov Lawal Commiserates With Police Over Killing Of Officers Elon Musk Launches xAI to Rival OpenAI, Google Nigeria Repays $500m Eurobond Debt FG Committed To Girl-Child Education, Shettima Tells UN Delegation Court Stops FCDA From Demolishing Trademore Estate Osun Assembly Repeals State Anthem, Crest, Flag Introduced By Aregbesola NECO Releases Common Entrance Results, 76 Pupils Tie For Highest Score APC Primary: Court Dismisses Adeyemi’s Suit Against Ododo Ogun Govt Confirms Website Hack, Says No Data Stolen Thunderstrike Kills Three Suspected Kidnappers In Kwara Reps To Probe Alleged Killings By Soldiers In Enugu Doctors Walk Out In UK Health Service’s Biggest Strike NEMA Receives 146 Stranded Nigerians From Niger Republic Reps ask JAMB to extend validity of UTME results to three years Sit-at-home: S-East govts vow to deal with Simon Ekpa, others Sit-at-home: S-East govts vow to deal with Simon Ekpa, others How Adamu starved Tinubu, APC candidates of funds during polls — Lukman, Nat’l V-Chair Jihadists from Niger, Mali, Libya taxing Nigerian farmers — Rep Tough times for students, parents as schools hike fees by 200% Vandals steal Second Niger Bridge fittings House of Reps member sent out of chamber for improper dressing Nigerian troops kill three bandits, recover weapons in Plateau Visit a newspaper stand this morning, buy and read a copy for yourself…

  There was a mild drama at the House of Representatives on Wednesday when a member who came to the chamber “improperly dressed” was walked out. The lawmaker, whose identity could not be ascertained because he is one of the newly elected members, entered the chamber casually dressed in a red t-shirt and brown trousers. The lawmaker walked in and took his seat at the upper gallery of the temporary chamber of the House when the House was almost rounding off the proceeding for the day. Shortly after taking his seat, a member of the House, Billy Osaweru, raised a point of order, drawing the attention of the Speaker to the lawmaker’s improper dressing. He said the lawmaker’s outfit was in contravention of the House dressing code. As soon as the Speaker’s attention was drawn to the member’s improper dressing, the lawmaker in question was forced out of the chamber.

  The apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has expressed shock and displeasure over the magnitude of damage and pains inflicted on the victims of demolished shops at Alaba International Market by the Lagos State Government. Ohanaeze in a press statement issued after a fact-finding mission of the demolition queried the rationality of the action especially when it was carried out within a short notice. According to the statement issued by the National Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze, Dr Alex Ogbonnia, the apex Igbo body is yet to come to terms with the justification of the action of the Lagos State Government which brought grief on affected Igbo traders in the market. The statement said that the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu who led the delegation “expressed deep grief over the extent and worth of the demolitions and the huge loss of goods.” Chief Iwuanyanwu was quoted as commending the Igbo spirit of hard work, perseverance, ingenuity, entrepreneurship and resilience, and assuring the traders “that with the Almighty God, they will definitely overcome the immediate challenges.” The Ohanaeze PG was further quoted as arguing that if Nigerians could own property abroad, it makes no sense demolishing properties genuinely acquired by any Nigerian in any part of the country without justifications. “The Igbo Leader explained that if a Nigerian can buy property in any part of the world, there is no reason a Nigerian will have his/her property demolished in any part of Nigeria, at a very short notice, and without justifications”, Iwuanyanwu said. According to the statement, Chief Iwuanyanwu urged “Igbo traders to remain unfazed and in high spirit, assuring them that he will stand against any form of injustice against any Igbo, anywhere and anytime.” The statement further said that Ohanaeze leadership had set up a committee to assess the cost of the demolished shops and report back to it for transmission to Igbo Governors for further actions. Ohanaeze also said that Igbo traders at Alaba International Market, had in the course of its engagement with them, enumerated some of their plights in the market which they demanded explanations from the Lagos State Government. The statement quoted the President of the Alaba International Market (AIM), Chief Camilus Amajuoyi as commending Chief Iwuanyanwu and members of Ohanaeze Ndigbo “for responding to their yearnings over the callousness meted the Igbo population in Alaba market.” Amajuoyi expressed surprise that soon after their supports to His Excellency, Babajide Sanwo-Olu on his re-election for a second term in Office, “the authorities of the Lagos State have served them with a calamity that can only be contemplated on an enemy zone in a war time”. Chief Amajuoyi according to the statement, decried the ordeals of the over one million Igbo traders in Alaba International Market, lamenting despite their contributions to the economy of the state, they were being paid back with persecutions. “The road to AIM is in a very bad condition. Also, all the road networks in the market are in a detestable condition. The roads are worst during the rainy season as the pot-holes are always filled with water, making it extremely difficult for people to navigate the roads. “Lagos State authorities marked about three buildings for demolition; according to them, the buildings were distressed and could collapse anytime. Surprisingly, they ended up destroying over thirty buildings at a very short notice. The worst part of the tragedy is that the lands are being resold out with fencings going on. Worst still, the authorities are not contemplating compensations on the properties that were officially purchased with all the relevant documents in place. “Over two hundred mobile police men were present when the structures were being pulled down indicates that the State Government is aware of the demolition exercise. “After the imported goods or containers are cleared at the Lagos Wharf, the Agbero or those who claim to be agents of the State Government intercept the goods and sometimes they pay up to Two Hundred Thousand Naira (N200,000) per container before it gets to the warehouse. “For anybody to build a house on a property he has duly purchased, he pays fees/levy at the foundation level; another fee/levy at the first decking; for any other decking, a fee will be paid; even to put glasses, attracts another levy. “The customers are daily embarrassed after they have purchased goods from the AIM; the buyer of the goods is levied between five and ten thousand naira without which the goods may be seized or damaged. “All they need from the State is to streamline or define the rules of engagement with the Alaba businessmen so that they will understand their legitimate boundaries. “Every corpse of an Igbo that dies in Lagos is always taken to the ancestral home. Therefore, the Igbo in Lagos lay no claim or pretensions over the ownership of Lagos. ” Remarkably, all the properties we occupy in Lagos are never procured by force; we either buy or rent with official legal documents in place. “We pay all the legitimate dues to the Lagos State, thereby adding values to the economy of the State; why all the indignities? “The committee that has been set by the state government to investigate into the Alaba tragedy does not have a representative from the Alaba International Market; asking, how can we barb a man in his absence? “Over one million Igbo young men and women in the AIM are not asking government for any employment; we are self-employed. All we ask the Lagos State Government is the conducive environment for our businesses and a cordial relationship with both our neighbours and the host communities.”

  The Federal Government through the Debt Management Office (DMO) has redeemed a $500 million Eurobond on its due date on July 12, 2023.   The Eurobond was issued in July 2013 (as part of a dual-tranche USD1 billion Eurobond) for a tenor of ten (10) years at a coupon of 6.375% per annum. READ ALSO: Court Stops FCDA From Demolishing Trademore Estate “Nigeria had previously redeemed a USD500 million Eurobond in July 2018, another USD500 million Eurobond in January 2021, and a USD300 million Diaspora Bond in June 2022,” the DMO said. “These, together with the USD500 million Eurobond redeemed today, bring the total amount of securities redeemed by Nigeria in the International Capital Market (ICM) to USD1.8 billion.   “Nigeria’s successful redemption of its Eurobonds and Diaspora Bond in the ICM over the past six (6) years is a demonstration of its strong debt management operations and planning.”